'Forest boy' exposed as a hoaxer

Forest boy exposed as a hoaxer - The West Australian

The so-called “forest boy” who turned up last year in Berlin claiming to have spent five years living rough in the German countryside has been exposed as a hoaxer, German and Dutch police say.

He claimed to be a 17-year-old teenager named Ray whose mother died when he was 12. He said he lived with his father in caves or in a tent until his father’s death.

He told police he had forgotten his surname and original home.

But residents of Hengelo, in the Netherlands, identified him from photos as a 20-year-old man, Robin, who left town just three days before showing up in Berlin in the guise of tousle-haired lost youth last September.

Police investigating the case published his photo worldwide on Tuesday. His Dutch stepmother recognised him from the photo.

“Ray has admitted that he is Robin,” a Berlin police spokeswoman told DPA yesterday.

“The story he told isn’t true.”

She added that it was possible he would be penalised for obtaining youth-welfare payments in Berlin when he had, in fact, been an adult.